Name:
Lewis

In what part of town do you live?
I live in Palmetto Bay. We were living in South Miami for about 17 years and moved to Palmetto Bay last year.

You mentioned that you’re originally from New York. What brought you to town?
Yes. Originally from Brooklyn. I prefer to see snow on a postcard. So, I moved to Florida, in 1977, after graduating chiropractic school. I set up practice, first in Inverness, Florida. Inverness is on the West coast, there’s a lot of lakes and a lot of fishing, but I was everybody’s grandson. And – for any leisure activity, I had to go either up to Gainesville or down to Tampa. A year later, I moved to Miami.

Why did you decide to become a chiropractor?
I was thinking of going to medical school. My father suffered with migraines and he had tried everything in the world medically possible. It wasn’t helping him. At that time, we had a lot of family circle meetings and with my dad’s headaches, he missed a lot of them. So, everybody was on the lookout for something they could do. One of our cousins went to a chiropractor for his lower back and, during the course of his care, asked the chiropractor if there was anything he could do for migraines. Within about six months, my dad’s headaches disappeared. It was a dramatic change in the lifestyle of the whole family. I decided at that point in time that I’d go to chiropractic school. I packed up my stuff and went out to Chicago to study. And, I started the dynasty. My older brother got out of chiropractor school five years later, and my younger brother five years after that.

What’s a family circle?
It was a name given to a gathering. When my parents’ generation came over from Russia, there was a family secretary, and they liked to keep everybody abreast of everything. They used to get together monthly and talk about how to support somebody if they were needing help and share about their successes. That generation really kept everything going.

With three chiropractor brothers, what’s a family dinner like?
We eat pretty healthy. Everybody gets adjusted. I bring my balloons and everybody gets ballooned. We talk about different things to do nutritionally and we enjoy getting together.

Balloons? What does ‘getting ballooned’ mean?
It’s a cranial facial release technique. The apparatus is rather simplistic. We take a blood pressure bulb and then we put on some latex cots and secure with some dental floss. We insert that balloon apparatus into the nasal passageways and we inflate it in order to move the joints of the skull. That increases circulation of cerebral spinal fluid and blood. When you move the joints, you can reduce pain rather dramatically. It works really fast on migraine headaches and people with chronic sinusitis. Afterwards, you feel like you have turbocharged breathing, and it feels like there is more space in your head. It was attractive to me because migraines were originally what got me into the practice.

Do you find that people have a misconception of what a chiropractor does?
That is what seems to be the case. I think it had to do with our own marketing strategies in the past. You think of ‘a hand on your back with a lightning bolt.’ But the truth of the matter is that when you get your joints adjusted, it actually tunes up your brain. I have a brain based wellness practice. I see myself as fine tuning the radio station to bring you back into signal so that everything can go clearly from your body to your brain and back down again.

How did you discover LNB?
One of my patients mentioned that her son was going to the Pinecrest market brought her Rainbow Smoothies and Turmeric concentrates and that they are delicious. She sent me the address and I started coming to your drive through.

What’s it like coming to our drive through store?
It’s a fun thing. Every once in a while I run into a line, but most of the times that I’ve been, I don’t have a wait. It’s always a nice adventure to see you and Adena. It’s fun. I’m coming to a place where I’m going to be healthy for the drive I’ve made and for the products I’m purchasing. The Rainbow Smoothies are a decadent, delightful treat. And, the Turmeric Concentrate is really good. I tried Buster’s kombucha and I’ve had some of the Frice’s ice cream as well. I love the Turmeric hearts. My daughter originally tried them and said, ‘these are a little different.’ The second time I brought a bag home, I noticed they disappeared. The last time I was there and I got five smoothies and put four in the freezer. My daughter likes to take them frozen and let them soften a little bit and use a spoon and eat them that way.

What other businesses have you been able to support during the closures?
We went to Babes Meat and Counter. I was reading their story in your newsletter. We’ve also been to Ayesha’s Indian restaurant on US1. We’ve been to Tani Thai and Rumi – their hummus is fabulous. We also go to Sushi Rock. And, my wife cooks a lot in the house, so we’re going to Whole Foods and Fresh Market.

What good things have you found within the current challenges?
I’ve found that people are much more interested in staying healthy.

What’s Miami’s best kept secret?
You’re the best kept secret in Miami! I was so happy to find you guys and love the products you make.

What is a worthy splurge for you?
I love artwork. We like a lot of glass structures. Check out artfulhome.com

What’s a good rainy-day activity?
Making an apple crumb pie.

Are there community groups that are important to you that you might like to promote or share?
We love taking care of animals. We support the local animal shelters here and ASPCA. We also support the Wounded Warriors, which is a veterans group of injured men and women who put their lives on the line for our country.

Would you like to share a pitch about your practice?
Erase the mindset that chiropractic is just for back pain. Chiropractic can be used like a general practitioner in order to maintain vitality and intensity for infants to octogenarians and beyond. I do some rather interesting techniques to keep you balanced and flexible. In the context of what we’re going through now, being flexible is certainly desirable and having good balance, between your emotional, physical, and spiritual life, is really going to be helpful.

Is there a question that you would like to ask us?
(LA) Are you planning to get back to the market soon? And, since you now have a bakery at your disposal, are there new products that you’ll be bringing for us to fall in love with?

(A+W) One of the greatest parts of hosting our own drive through has been the freedom to test new products and see what else we can make with things we grow. We have a commercial kitchen full of equipment to play with. Our first new product was the Turmeric Hearts. We are experimenting now with our Turmeric Hummus and Turmeric Pasta. Right now, we have no indication that the market will get back to normal any time soon. So, for the time being we will continue growing the store.

Is there a question or a challenge that you would like to pose to the community?
With the fear of this pandemic, everything is always challenging. I would say, reach out to somebody you know, and give them something positive to feel, share with them how they are needed. I think that would be a really good challenge.